Lowell corrections trainee charged with sexual misconduct

Austin L. Miller @almillerosb

Thursday

Sep 20, 2018 at 12:17 AMSep 20, 2018 at 5:46 PM

Inmate told investigators she had sex with the corrections trainee as payment for a narcotic drug.

A corrections trainee at Lowell Correctional Institution who reportedly admitted to having sex with a female inmate at the facility was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of sexual misconduct.

Nicholas Seaborn Jefferson, 26, told officials he and the inmate twice had sex in the early morning hours while other inmates were asleep, according to his arrest report. The 29-year-old inmate told officials the sex was payment for Jefferson bringing her a narcotic drug.

Jefferson said he never forced the woman to have sex. He said the first encounter was in the beginning of September, with the second a week later.

Jefferson remained at the Marion County Jail as of 5:45 p.m. Thursday on a $10,000 bond.

State Department of Corrections officials said Jefferson has been with the agency since May, and they are "moving forward with Officer Jefferson’s immediate dismissal." Officials noted: "The Department will conduct an after-action review to determine what recommended changes are necessary to prevent future misconduct."

A Florida Department of Corrections report from Inspector Jennifer Langston with the Office of the Inspector General states that on Sept. 16, the inmate said, Jefferson was the housing officer assigned to her area. Around 2:30 a.m., she said, Jefferson walked throughout the area to wake up the diabetic inmates so they can be escorted by the housing sergeant to the pill line outside the dormitory.

The victim said Jefferson woke her up and she walked toward the inmate bathroom. She said once the diabetic patients were out of the dorm, she met Jefferson beside the inmate bathroom in a small corner beside a door that leads to the laundry room, which is outside of the officer’s station, to have sex with Jefferson.

The woman said the two were interrupted when Jefferson saw an inmate walking toward their location. She said Jefferson managed to leave without anyone seeing him.

She said the sex was payment for her receiving the narcotic drug suboxone from Jefferson on Sept. 15. Jefferson denied having sex with the inmate for suboxone.

Langston did not see the act while reviewing the video, according to the report, but the video showed the two meeting at the time and location given by the inmate.

“FDC’s Office of Inspector General has taken swift action to arrest this officer for his grossly inappropriate and illegal involvement with an inmate at Lowell Correctional," noted FDC secretary Julie Jones in a statement. "There is no place in this department for staff who engage in misconduct, and I am confident Warden (Hope) Gartman and her leadership team will continue to ensure all officers at Lowell are treating inmates with respect and conducting themselves in an appropriate and professional manner.”

Female inmates at the prison have complained for years about such incidents.

In August, the U.S. Department of Justice civil rights division met with alleged victims, families and loved ones of inmates in Ocala. A DOJ is investigating alleged sexual abuse at the all-female prison. At the meeting, family members and former inmates told the Star-Banner about inmate abuse at the hands of their handlers.

Government officials said if their investigation uncovers other allegations, they might expand their probe. They warn that the investigation will take months.

The day after the Ocala meeting, the justice department team went to Lowell for a tour of the facility.

DOJ officials could not immediately be reached for comment about the latest allegation.

Debra Bennett, a former inmate who calls herself the prison mom and voice for those incarcerated at Lowell, told the Star-Banner that she's not surprised to hear about the arrest.

"It happens more frequently than people realize," she said.

Bennett is convinced that the DOJ's recent visit sparked the arrest.

"It's going to take a long time because they have more to investigate," she said, adding when federal officials toured the prison, they got more information about different abuse allegations.